Sanitary carton holder



Aug. 2, 1932. w. J. RANEY SANITARY CARTON HOLDER Filed Aug. 19, 1929 INVEN T0. Wdziam J. Zia/2g, BY W A TTORNEY.

Patented Aug. 2, 1932 UNITE STATES PATENT FFIQE WILLIAM J. RANEY, OFMEMYHIS, TENNESSEE SANITARY CARTON HOLDER Application filed August 19,1929.

products such as are purchased in bulk, stored and dispensed at retail.The cartons are commonly made in difierent sizes such as quarts, pintsand half-pints and it is an object of the invention to provide means forsupporting a plurality of cartons of different sizes in such a way thata carton of desired size can be quickly taken from the stack while atthe same time the stack is supported in such a way as tobe protectedagainst contamination by insects or in othervways. An-

other object of the invention is to provide means for supporting a largenumber of car tons in such a manner that they will be out of the way yetreadily accessible. Another object of the invention isto provideimproved means whereby the lowermost carton can be readily grasped forremoval from the stack.

Referring to the drawing, which is made a part of this application andin which similar reference characters indicate similar parts:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of my device in use,

Fig. 2, a side elevation of the same,

Fig. 3, a vertical section of one member of a group on line 3-3 ofFig. 1. and

Fig. a, a horizontal section on line t-4 of Fig. 1.

In the drawing reference character 10 indicates a shelf such as may beused for supporting my device and its contents. As here illustrated theshelf includes a horizontal part braced at the sides but any suitableconstruction may be used. For attaching the same to a wall or the like Ihave indicated a rear member 11 extending upward above the shelf andsecured thereto by nails 12 or in any other suitable manner.

A group of tubes 13 are here shown as rest- Serial No. 386,911.

ing at their lower ends on the shelf but it will be understood that thenumber of tubes may vary, as when more than three sizes of cartons aretovbe made available for use and that the tubes need not necessarilyrest. on the shelf, as they may be held in place solely by cross-strips14 secured to a wall or the like by nails15 or in other suitable manner.The tubes are cut away at the front side adjacent the lower ends asindicated at 16 in Fig. 2 and it will be evident upon consideration ofFig. 1 that the tube at the right is cut away to a height suficient topermit convenient handling of cartons 17 which maybe of a size tocontain one quart, while the middle tube to a height sufiicient topermit convenient handling of cartons 18 containing a pint and theleft-hand tube is cut away only to a height sufiicient to permitconvenient handling of cartons. containing one-half pint. It will beunderstood that the capacities mentioned are merely for illustration asany other'varieties of cartons or the like can be suppliedby devices ofthis character. The front edges of the walls adjacent the lowermostcarton are provided with notches 20 to permit the user to place hisfingers at opposite sides of the carton for firmly gripping the same towithdraw it most readily and the shelf is also provided with notches oropenings 21, these preferably so located adjacent each tube as to extendunderneath the peripheral edge of the lowermost carton whereby a fingermay be inserted underneath such edge to aid in withdrawing the carton,if this should be found necessary. It will be understood that ordinarilythe cartons are quite readily withdrawn as they are very light in spiteof their bulk.

At the front side of each tube I have shown an elongated window 22covered with isinglass or other suitable transparent material.Preferably these windows are located somewhere near the bottom of thedevice, or extend down to a relatively low position so that the user maybe advised when the container is nearly empty and they may extend up asfar as is deemednecessary for this purpose.

It should be noted that the cartons fit quite closely in the tubes andalso that the tubes :7 are closed at the top and sides, all of whichserves to exclude insects and prevent damage to the cartons, which arecommonly coated with wax so that they naturally attract insects andparticularly roaches. The only limit to the height of the container (orto the length of the tubes) is the height of the ceiling and therefore alarge number of cartons can be held in position for use in a much moreconvenient manner than the customary one which usually consists inpiling up the car tons or placing them in baskets. One or more of thecarton holders may be placed along side a food storage container such asan ice cream packing case and thus the cartons are placed veryconveniently adjacent the point of use. The groove in the shelf makes iteasy to load the carton holder, the cartons being placed in the holderat the bottom of the same and as they are very light those already inthe holder can be lifted by inserting a finger in the groove underneaththe lower most carton, lifting up those already in the holder andinserting another. Obviously when one carton is removed the others inthat compartment of the holder move down by gravity so as to positionanother for convenient withdrawal.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that numerous variationscan be made in the device here disclosed without departing from thespirit of my invention and therefore I do not limit myself to what isshown in the drawing and described in the specification but only asindicated in the appended claim.

Having thus fully described my said invention, what I claim as new anddesire to secure by Letters Patent is:

A dispensing device for cartons comprising a horizontally extendingshelf having a member projecting upwardly therefrom adapted forattachment to a support or the like, a plurality of individual cartonholding tubes freely resting on the shelf, each tube closed at its topand partially cut away at its front to provide a dispensing openingadjacent the shelf, and the shelf having openings formed thereinintermediate the edges thereof whereby when the cartons are contained inthe tubes and rest on the shelf the peripheral edges of the cartons willbut partially cover the openings so as to permit a finger being insertedtherein for aiding in withdrawing the cartons from the tubes, and commonmeans embracing the tubes for holding them in fixed position on theshelf.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

I WILLIAM J. RANEY.

